Snowplow with rail mounting both fixed and movable rotary means

ABSTRACT

A SNOWPLOW ADAPTED TO REMOVE SNOW AND PACK IT INTO READILY CARRIED UNITS. HEATING MEANS TO PARTIALLY THAW THE SNOW TO ALLOW BETTER PACKING IS PROVIDED AND IMPROVED CLEATS ARE USED ON THE PACKING ROTOR. SIGNALLING MEANS FOR AUXILIARY TRUCKS IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSEMBLY.

Dec. 7, 1971 WANDSCHEER EIAL 3,624,931

SNOWPLOW WITH RAIL MOUNTING BOTH FIXED AND MOVABLE ROTARY MEANS Filed June 25, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 7, 1971 WANDSCHEER ETAL 3,624,931

SNOWPLOW WITH RAIL MOUNTING BOTH FIXED AND MOVABLE ROTARY MEANS Filed June 25, 1969 2 SheetsSheet 2 HARoL/J 0. M/wswask EVE r [MA/050155,? BK 0. A724 72..

United States Patent 3,624,931 SN OWPLOW WITH RAIL MOUNTING BOTH FIXED AND MOVABLE ROTARY MEANS Harold D. Waudscheer and Evert Wandscheer, both of Sioux Center, Iowa 51250 Filed June 25, 1969, Ser. No. 836,407 Int. Cl. E01h /09 U.S. Cl. 37-43 F 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A snowplow adapted to remove snow and pack it into readily carried units. Heating means to partially thaw the snow to allow better packing is provided and improved cleats are used on the packing rotor. Signalling means for auxiliary trucks is included in the assembly.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to snowplows and more particularly to improvement on the type of plow shown in Patent No. 3,318,028 issued to one of the present inventors.

The snowplow of the above numbered patent has been used and is operating successfully. However, a few problems have developed and the device of the current application has been worked out to solve the problems.

For example, the snow must be brought into the bottom of the rotors, and we are now able to accomplish this by use of a rotor having auger flighting. Improved rotors are also provided, particularly using improved and novel cleats.

In order to accommodate an increased volume of snow or to allow passage of heavy chunks of ice or foreign objects, a movable mounting for one rotor has been designed.

The problem of clogging of the outlet of the blower by ice and the like is also treated.

FIGURES FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of our snowplow,

FIG. 2 is a detailed side elevational view to an enlarged scale of a heating collar removed from the plow,

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the snowplow mounted on a carrier and to a reduced scale,

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the signal lamp assembly removed from the plow,

FIG. 6 is a detailed front elevational view of the mounting for the signal lamp,

FIG. 7 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 3 of a slightly different type of collar,

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the plow with the rotors and discharge spout removed,

FIG. 9 is a detailed view to an enlarged scale of the movable mounting for one rotor,

FIG. 10 is a sectional view from line 10-10 of FIG. 8,

FIG. 11 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 10 from line 1111 of FIG. 8,

FIG. 12 is a broken front elevational view of the rotor alone showing three different possible types of cleat,

FIG. 13 is a medial sectional view of the rotor of FIG. 12,

FIG. 14 is a detailed end view of one type of cleat, and

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the hinged cleat to a reduced scale.

DESCRIPTION Briefly, our invention comprises an improvement on a snowplow of the type shown and described in the afore- Patented Dec. 7, 1971 mentioned patent whereby improved cleats and added heating are combined with other features to provide substantially improved performance.

More specifically, and referring to the drawings, our snowplow includes a housing 10 of the same general type as that described in Patent No. 3,318,028. The housing is adapted to be carried by a powered vehicle 11 which might be a truck or an end loader as illustrated. The plow may be powered either by a power take-off from the vehicle 11 or by means of an auxiliary engine 12.

A driven beater 13 is mounted in the front of the housing 10. This beater is rotated in a direction to throw the snow upward from the ground into the drums 15 hereinafter described. It may be formed of an auger device as shown although the use of an auger is unnecessary.

The drums 15 are driven and rotate in the same way as those in the patent hereinbefore referred to. However, they are mounted somewhat differently and utilize somewhat different construction.

The mounting of the drums is illustrated in FIGS. 8-1l. As best shown in FIG. 8, a pair of horizontal rails 17 are mounted in the housing 10. The stationary drum is mounted on a gear box 18 bolted or otherwise fixed to these rails. This gear box 18 is driven by a power shaft 19 which is, in turn, driven by the power supply. The gear box 18 is effective to drive a hub 20 on which the fixed drum 15 is mounted.

A secondary splined power shaft 22 is also driven by the gear box 18-. This shaft 22 is coupled to a similar shaft 23 extending from the moving gear box 24 by an internally splined coupling 25. The gear box 24 is movably mounted on the rails 17 (as best shown in FIGS. 9 and 10). The mounting includes a pair of rollers 27 fixed to the rail 17 in position to support a flange bracket 28 on the gear box. A flange 29 on the rear of the gear box provides support laterally of the rail 17. On the upper surface of the gear box 24 are also mounted a pair of rollers 30 adapted to run in a channel formed between the upper rail 17, a flange 32 on the rear of that rail, and a plate 33 fastened to the front of the rail. Thus, the gear box 24 is mounted for movement longitudinally of the rails 17 or or other resilient outer cover. Various types of cleat may be used on the periphery of the tire 41. Four types are illustrated variously in FIGS. 12-15. The first type, not illustrated separately is the all rubber cleat 43. This cleat operates well on loose or powdered snow, but does not operate satisfactorily on hard packed snow, and therefore is not considered a satisfactory type for normal use. By adding a steel (or other hard material) angled plate 44 to the face and outer edge of the cleat 43, a surface and an edge are provided which serve well to break up the packed snow and provide a satisfactory cleat. This plate may be fastened to the rubber cleat 43 by bonding or any other 3 member 46. Hinged to the fixed member is a flail member 48. A face piece 49 (FIG. 14) may be added to the flail member 48 to provide extra weight or extra wearing surface. This cleat depends on the centrifugal force generated by rapid rotation of the drum to hold the flail members radially of the drum. It will be noted that because of the flexibility, there may well be a beating action of the eleat on the material between the drums so that there will be increased action to break up and compact the ice chunks and irregular shaped, hard packed snow.

From the drums, and as described in Pat. No. 3,318,- 028, the snow is delivered to a tapered exit chute 50 which may be adjustable as is well known in the art. As the snow leaves the housing, it passes through a unique collar 51 mounted on the housing 10. This collar includes an upper flange 52 which fits into and guides the chute 50. Rollers 53 may also be mounted on the collar 51 to support the chute 50 so that it may be easily turned to direct the snow in various directions.

The unique feature of the collar 51 is that it includes a heated manifold. This manifold heats the outlet from the blower or the inlet of the spout. When the ambient temperature is below freezing, but the snow on the roadway is slushy, ice or-frozen slush frequently forms at this point. The heated manifold keeps the material soft and moving at this point. The manifold may be heated either by hot air or hot water. The hot air manifold 55 (FIG. 3) has an inlet 56 for receiving hot gases from the engine exhaust of the driving engine 12. The gases are then exhausted through openings 57 on the inner surface of the manifold where the gas will also come into contact with the snow being hurled through the collar.

The liquid heated manifold 58 receives heated engine coolant from the engine through an entrance 59. The coolant then circulates around the collar and is discharged from an outlet 60 to be conducted back to the radiator of the driving engine 12. Thus, in this embodiment, the snow will be heated only by contact with or by radiation from the inner surface of the manifold 58. However, the temperature is always high enough to keep the surface free of ice.

One other unique feature of the snowplow is illustrated in FIGS. 46. This is the signal light carried on the front of the plow. A pair of cars 62 is fixed to the front of the housing 10. Iournalled in these ears for tilting vertically is a T-shaped mounting 63 similar to a pipe T. An elbow member 64 is threaded into the T-mounting 63 so that it can be turned to extend either forward of the plow as shown in FIGS. 4 and or laterally of the plow as shown in FIG. 1.

The mounting extends from the elbow 64 to a second elbow joint 65 which is also articulated to fold as shown in FIG. 1. From this joint, an extension 66 extends to support a lamp 67. Suitable wiring for the lamp is provided to supply power to the lamp through a switch control in the cab of the vehicle. In order to hold the lamp in its forward position, a support 68 (FIG. 5) having a U-shaped cut 69 in its upper surface is mounted in the ears 62. The support 68 is preferably made of some resilient material such as rubber so that the lamp mounting will be resiliently supported. Such support is necessary to protect the filament of the bulbs in the lamp.

The purpose of this lamp is for guidance and signalling of a truck operator running alongside the plow and being loaded thereby. The lamp extension is of such length that it may be extended to a point opposite which the truck c-ab must be in order to properly load the box of the truck. Thus the driver of the truck need only keep abreast of the lamp 67 and he will be in proper relation to the plow to receive the snow. When the truck is fully loaded, the operator of the plow, who is in a position to see the box, can flash the lamp, and the trucker can drive 01f knowing his truck is fully loaded. Various other signals could be worked'out for other simple messages between the operator of the plow and the truck driver.

Thus, by the use of various novel devices, we have provided an improved snowplow both in effectiveness and in ease and efliciency of operation. The general operation of the plow is in all respects similar to that described in the aforementioned patent and need not be described here.

We claim:

1. A snowplow comprising a housing open at one end, beater means extending laterally of said opening, drive means operably connected to said heater means to drive it in a direction to throw snow upward into said housing, rail means mounted in said housing, a pair of gear box means in said housing, at least one of said gear box means being slidably mounted on said rail means, drum means mounted on each of said gear box means on axes extend ing substantially transversely of said beater means, said drum means including peripheral pneumatic tire means having radially extending cleats, collar means on said 'housing adapted to receive snow thrown by said drum means and chute means mounted on said collar means to guide said snow as it leaves the collar.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the movably mounted gear box is mounted on roller means adapted to guide and carry said gear box along said rail means.

3. The device of claim 2 in which compression spring means is engaged between said movably mounted gear box and said housing to bias said gear box to a position in which said drums are close together, said movably mounted gear box being movable against said bias to a position in which said drums are farther apart.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,202,291 10/1916 Ingells 116-254 1,492,546 4/ 1924 Miller 340-22 3,318,028 5/ 1967 Wandscheer 3710 2,088,671 8/ 19'37 Soderberg 116-54 2,504,774 4/ 1950 Williamson 37-43 2,554,769 5/ 1951 Arnold 37-12 3,429,061 2/1969 Haban 37--43 3,465,455 9/ 1969 Kiernan 37-12 1,560,612 11/1925 Sims 3712X 3,248,133 4/1966 Michnoff 37-12 X 3,331,433 7/1967 Hagberg 37-12 X EDGAR S. BURR, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

